Damian Prisk wins the BBC British Open and Masters title and Bodyboard-Depot, Holidays & School Owner Rob Barber takes the British Bodyboarding Senior title in chunky north Cornwall waves.

November 8/9 saw the best British bodyboarders come together to challenge themselves against not only each other but the first of the winter swells to bombard Cornish shores. The event was held over two days at two venues, Tolcarne and Porthtowan. This years Auto Sleepers British Bodyboarding Championships showcased the best of British riding. The Bodyboard-Depot team dominated the winners circle for the second year in a row.
On Saturday the event was held at Tolcarne beach and the Juniors, International, Seniors and Masters divisions were contested in 4-to-5 foot cross shore waves. The juniors saw a power battle between Portreath grom’s Taylor Prisk and James Trevenna. Taylor took the win by a slim margin after launching a nice invert air to impress the judges.
The ladies division saw Tabby Fox and Megan Penny battle it out for the title. Megan took the victory by busting a sweet roll mid way through the heat. Good to see the ladies getting stuck in to the chunky conditions.
The Senior and Masters divisions saw the semi finals held in mid to high tide conditions, delivering some powerful peaks with the odd bowl. Prisk showed good early form by starting the first heat with an 8.5 to set the tempo. As the tide dropped, the swell got bigger and the wind stronger making for long paddle outs.
In the senior final Prisk and Barber were evenly matched through out the 20 minutes. In the dying seconds Barber picked off a fast walling right, launched a lofty air roll and snatched the victory. Rob Barber (Bodyboard-Depot Owner) commented “I’m really happy to score a first and two seconds in the events, I’d like to thank Core Bodyboards for the excellent new range that they are supplying me with, my 2015 model has really helped me take my riding up a notch and I’m stoked that my performances reflected this”
Prisk and Barber were at it again in the Masters final. Both getting good early scores. Martin Kelly was ever present in both finals but just lacked that one high scoring wave to challenge for the title. Prisk nailed the win with 4 minutes to go, finding a running lefthander that he used to launch a nice back flip.
Day two of the national champs was held at Porthtowan in four foot lumpy waves. The drop knee division was closely fought between Laurie McCall, Kirstin Prisk and Alex Winkworth. Despite some epic floaters and a long cover up for McCall, it was Winkworth and Kirstin Prisk who were neck and neck for the title. By the slimmest of margins Winkworth took the title by 0.4 over Kirstin Prisk.
After some big moves in the first round, quarters and semi’s the finalists competed in spring low tide, super sucky conditions. Within 2 seconds of the heat starting Prisk dropped in to the wave of the event. A draining left hand barrel that he rolled out of. The chase was now on. Barber waited 4 minutes to select his first wave, span into the pocket and rolled out of the barrel to close the gap. Martin Kelly launched a sweet air roll to stake his claim for the title. Then Remi scored a nice tube to roll combo. Prisk hunted another high score with a roll and an ARS. Barber fought back with a long tube that he rolled out of and backed it up in the dying seconds with an ARS. But it wasn’t enough. Prisk took the victory with a joint wave score of 17.5.
A huge thanks must go out to Rich Hall of the British Bodyboard Club for organising the event. Thanks also to the officials who dealt with some challenging conditions to run the event successfully.
Results:Open